The collection includes materials from Clark M. Davis and his wife, Mrs. Tacie L. Davis, his uncle, Carl Xander, and his cousin, Jack Baker. Davis donated the material to the McCord Theatre Museum (predecessor to the McCord/Renshaw Collection on the Performing Arts) in 1967.

Clark M. Davis worked with Lichtman theaters in Washington D.C. primarily as a film buyer but also with film exhibition, production and distribution for 32 years. Davis also assisted in organizing entertainment for several presidential inaugural celebrations. His wife, Mrs. Tacie L. Davis, was very active in the Washington D.C. Variety Club and also operated the Servicemen’s Ticket Hut in Washington for three years during World War II.

Carl Xander was an avid theater goer and first-nighter, primarily in Washington D.C. and New York City. Programs demonstrating this theater habit date from 1900.

Jack Baker worked with MGM as a dance instructor and choreographer during the 1950s and 1960s. He was involved in films such as Paint Your Wagon,The Caddy,A Star is Born, as well as television shows such as The Lucy Show.

This is one of the collections in the McCord/Renshaw collection on the performing arts. Related materials are located in the Bywaters Special Collections of the Hamon Arts Library of Southern Methodist University.

Access to Collection:

Collection is open for research use. Appointment with curatorial staff at Hamon Library is required.

Publication Rights:

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the curatorial staff at Hamon Library.

Copyright Statement:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following terms in the Southern Methodist University Libraries' online catalog. Researchers desiring related materials may search the catalog using these terms.

The Davis-Xander-Baker Collection was received in little discernible order. During its processing, the collection was divided into separate files for artwork, clippings, correspondence, documents, ephemera, manuscripts, musical scores, programs, publicity, published works, scripts and photographs. Folded documents were flattened, and the papers were arranged alphabetically/chronologically by subject and medium, placed in acid-free folders, and stored in acid-free boxes.

The correspondence contains letters from the War Hospitality Committee to invitations to the 1949 and 1957 inaugurations, as well as a letter from Vice-President Richard Nixon thanking Clark Davis for escorting Marian Anderson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1957 inauguration.

103CorrespondenceSeries 4:Documents, 1941-1951

Documents include material on American Theatre Wing War Services, Inc., 1965 Inaugural Registration, the War Hospitality Committee and What Price Negro Business written by Clark M. Davis. Items of particular note include the official envelopes and cards given to the following Academy Award Winners in 1951:

Supporting Actor: Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named DesireActress: Vivian Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (Greer Garson accepted the award for Miss Leigh)Story and Screenplay: Alan Jay Lerner for An American in Paris (Nancy Olson accepted the Award)Actor: Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen

Ephemera of particular note include admission cards to the National Museum in 1881, the Inaugural Reception in 1881, the White House 1952 and 1946 as well as dance cards to 1903 The Merrymakers,1908 Navy Yard Apprentices, 1909 Inaugural Ball and the 1904 U.S.S. Mayflower Ball.

Manuscripts of particular note include an itinerary for Thomas I. Luckett and Miss R. Tacie Luckett (Mrs. Clark Davis) for trip to Paris in 1930 by Bartlett, Dixon and Cie S.A.

110ManuscriptsSeries 7:Musical Score, 1937

The musical score consists of I Love You by Alexander Bartnovsky which is autographed to Mr. and Mrs. Clark Davis by Bartnovsky.

111Musical ScoreSeries 8:Programs, 1900-1967

The folders are primarily organized by locations, with exceptions for programs without a clear location identified. The New York and Washington D.C. programs, most likely collected by Carl Xander, include opening night performances of local and touring opera and theater productions. The Variety Club material collected by Mrs. Tacie Davis, contain primarily Washington D.C. materials such as the Annual Dinner Dance dating from 1934 to 1962. Programs of particular note include the 1937-1945 President’s Birthday Bash which raised funds for National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt (known today as March of Dimes) and the presidential inaugurations of 1905, 1949, 1953, and 1957. Clark M. Davis helped organize the entertainment for both the inaugural celebrations of 1949, 1953 and 1957 and the President’s Birthday Bash.

The published works include publications such as Crossroads to War and the Road Back- United Nations Service Center, The Playgoer: A Magazine for the Theatre, and yearbooks of the Variety Club of Washington D.C.